FW3A, a TLF/BLF EDC flashlight - SST-20 available, coupon codes public

I had specified that I would buy four FW3A’s in the pre-release list, but after I had big problems that turned out to be nubbin, I decided I would purchase only one at the cheaper price. In hindsight this was a mistake, but now I am quite happy to see the retaining ring in the tailcap, and plan to give FW3A’s for holiday gifts this year. I just couldn’t see giving a light to muggles with the nubbin falling out. It’s still only for adult muggles.

I hope the new design appears in the color-anodized versions soon.

That’s funny because my FW3A I got from Neal has the silver clip, bronze ring in the head but no black retaining ring in the tail.

Does anyone know the size of O-ring that goes between the pocketclip and the tailcap? My Ti one I just received does not have one and the clip rotates too easily.

It’s not strange at all. The changes were not made at once, but over time. The silver clip and bronze retaining ring were early changes and the other ones are newer.

In fact, the silver clip and bronze ring were mentioned 2 or 3 weeks ago iirc.

The copper I received Thursday from Illum has the brass ring in the head, black ring in the tail, V1 tube and longer threads. So there is a mix.
Once again, most of the reported issues seem to be on account of the driver board not being centered. If the brass lock ring touches it, it shorts out the signal from the switch through the inner tube.
Just loosen and re-center and for me at least all the problems went away.

Mine also has the two piece lens

The issues with the driver being off-center appear to be the same issues the light was originally delayed to fix. So it’s disheartening to see that those issues stuck around so long. However, if I heard correctly, the design was finally changed in the latest batch to make the driver fit better.

Not sure why there was ever a fit issue at all though, since the first few prototypes were fine. It didn’t become an issue until later.

The fit of the brass ring in the head has a lot of play so when it is tightened down it can be slightly off center -at least that was an issue on a few of mine. Just have to take care when tightening to make sure ring is also centered

It was probably a case of the driver manufacturer not realizing the tolerances needed to be so exact. Their pcb boards might have a tolerance range of 0.6mm which is no big deal for most lights, but is a big deal for this light. So the pcb manufacturer might err on the side of caution making the boards a tiny bit smaller. This is better than too big like in the past. Still, too small means the driver might not be perfectly centered.

This is my guess.

If Lumintop did not contract out the drivers and instead made them in house, then they could probably stay on top of the tight tolerances.

I would guess that Lumintop machines the retaining rings themselves, so I don’t know why they can’t get a better fit. Maybe that was their first run of retaining rings and they are going to refine the fit on the next batch of rings.

What was the early ring made of, aluminum? It fit better, right? They may have switched materials, but kept the same cnc profile. The brass might cut differently than the aluminum and changed the fitment of the threads. It’s certainly possible. Or they did change the machining profile to compensate for the different material, but changed it too much.

They will probably never tell us these small details, but we can clearly see they are trying to make improvements where they can.

Found on reddit : 18350 tube for FW3A



Add a new pocketclip that will work with that and I’m in!

Someone posted their home made version somewhere around here. They found an 18350 tube from another light and then made their own inner tube. Is that what we’re looking at or is this made by Lumintop?

If Lumintop, then it’s a big deal. If homemade, then it’s ehh. Good for that person, but not those who want to buy it.

Pictures of the FW3A 18350 tube are from Martin’s facebook account so it might be official : Redirecting...
It’s a bit odd that it hasn’t been announced here first since the FW3A is a TLF/BLF flashlight. :confused:

I think Lumintop designed this accessory, not a BLF team member ;)

I did not share the pics here because it's not easy using the phone :(

planned to do so tonight from my PC

OK martin, no big deal.
So there is a 18350 tube with a machined cigar grip ring and a 2nd one without ?

Somebody? Did not find a 18350 tube…I bored the tail end and machined the tube to a press fit…the Ti/mini is at a Jewelry store to be Laser welded inside the tube as I machined a double lap joint for extra strength….

. Sent a bunch of pictures of my builds to Neal who in turn sent to Lumintop to get the ball rolling, thank Neal for pounding this into Lumintops head, they didn’t want to do it initially…

. Neal sent me this badass Titanium clip I guess for helping?… so I mounted it… added trits…

. Not too bad for being “Homemade” I guess… :smiley:

Very cool! That mokume gane clip looks very excited to be on that light!

Hahaa yep excited, I wanted so badly to put it on the FW3a mini but it is too long… so looking into finding or designing shorter clips for my mini FW3’s I plan on making more of the “Homemade” Ti/mini’s for a few close family/friends…

I want that clip on a Cu version. That needs to be an option.

Direct from lumintop: